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Biel 2019 R02: Bogner's redemption and Leko's metamorphosis spruce up Biel!

by Tanmay Srinath - 24/07/2019

Well, one doesn't lose forever. Sebastian Bogner, the current Swiss Champion taught us all how to overcome a rut by clinically destroying Parham Maghsoodloo's weak opening play to get back in contention. Sam Shankland had the chance of the round against Vidit, but the American failed to assess properly the best continuation available to him. Peter Leko continued his remarkable fable by turning a new leaf yet again - his game against Georgiadis lasted an epic 101 moves. Peter Leko, Sam Shankland and Vidit Gujrathi lead the classical section with four points. Peter Leko leads the overall standings with 14 points. Tanmay Srinath in an exhaustive report from Biel dissects today's play.

After four decisive games yesterday, the players were calmer today. Three games ended in interesting draws. Sam Shankland had the best chance of the round against Vidit Gujarathi, but the former US Champion missed a chance to start a ferocious attack involving a potential exchange sacrifice. Peter Leko tried for 101 moves to break through with Rook+Knight vs Rook, but Nico Georgiadis held firm to take home half a point. Jorge Cori had very little to play with as White against Abdusattorov, and soon took a draw. In the only decisive game of the round, Sebastian Bogner began his comeback with a fine win over Parham Maghsoodloo. Time to dig in:

Bogner 1-0 Maghsoodloo

After the storm, sunshine finally shone on the beleaguered Bogner. It was not some fantastic luck - he put his head down, got down to work and played one of his finest games to dismantle the current World Junior Champion. Here are a few critical moments:

The Swiss No.1 was too strong for the Iranian No.2 | Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

Bogner-Maghsoodloo

Maghsoodloo plays his favourite line with 3...a6 against the Queen's Gambit

Parham's best chance to stay in the game lay in castling short and playing in the center. Instead, h6 in my opinion created further problems for the current World Junior Champion.

Bxd6! is a fine voluntary exchange from Bogner. The plan is to further weaken the dark squares by exchanging off their best defender.

In this position, Maghsoodloo finally erred with Bh5?!. It was imperative to move the queen - either Qc7 or Qb8 retained chances to hold. Instead, after the mistake in the game, Bogner was quick to cash in with Nxa6! winning a pawn.

After the queens were exchanged, the endgame is close to trivial for White.

Find the best way for White to proceed.

How should White finish the game off?

The final position is picturesque - Black has no way to avoid mate.

The Swiss Champion has started to fire | Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

Shankland 0.5-0.5 Vidit

The rating favourites have clashed early, and Sam put Vidit under a lot of pressure right from the get-go. Unfortunately for him, finishing the dogged Black player wasn't something he was able to accomplish today.

Vidit survived his trial by fire today. | Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

Shankland-Vidit

Vidit had to go f5! here, preventing White from expanding on the kingside. Be7? was a touch materalistic, and allowed Shankland to launch a terrifying attack after f5! The main point is that after Black plays ...f5, Qd4 Kf7! is a strong move for Black when he is in the game, alive and kicking.

Find the move that Sam missed here, that gives White a surging initiative.

Wow, did I really blow it? | Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

Leko 0.5-0.5 Georgiadis

This is a new Peter Leko we are seeing. Instead of agreeing to tame draws, he is fighting till bare kings these days. The low rating and lack of invitations are perhaps telling, but what I believe is that the man himself wants to make another surge to the top, and to do so he has to reinvent himself. So instead of his perennial 1.e4, he has played 1.d4 exclusively. While he didn't win today, he did play the longest game of the round, something we don't really associate with the Leko of the past. Credit to Nico as well, who defended a piece down for a long time without faltering.

Youth managed to hold on, but not without some nightmarishly good defensive play! | Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

Leko-Georgiadis

Peter has outplayed the young gun, but here he had to calculate and finish the job. Can you do better than him? White to play and get a huge advantage.

After Nxf5! gxf5 Rxf5, Nico managed to transpose into an endgame a piece down, but a theoretical draw with correct play. He managed to hold on creditably.

The former Hungarian No.1 couldn't outlast his opponent today. | Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

Cori 0.5-0.5 Abdusattorov

The game in itself was a disappointment for White, but credit must be given to the young Uzbek for his outstanding opening preparation.

Cori needs to find some form, and find it quickly, if he needs to start challenging the leaders. | Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

Here is one point where Abdusattorov could have gotten ambitious:

Cori-Abdusattorov

Black could have tried to play on with a4 or Rc4, but Abdusattorov chose to simplify with Qb7. A draw soon ensued.

Watch out...here I come! | Photo: Simon Bohnenblust / Biel Chess Festival

Overall-Ranking

RankNameGamesClassicRapidBlitzTotal
1GM Peter Leko9410014
2GM Sam Shankland949013
3GM Santosh Vidit948012
4GM Parham Maghsoodloo938011
5GM Jorge Cori91708
6GM Nico Georgiadis91607
7GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov91506
GM Sebastian Bogner93306

About the Author

Tanmay Srinath is an 18-year-old chess player from Bangalore, Karnataka, currently pursuing both chess and engineering at BMSCE Bangalore. Tanmay is also a Taekwondo Black Belt, who has represented the country in an International Tournament in Thailand. He is a big fan of Mikhail Tal and Vishy Anand, and sincerely believes in doing his bit to Power Chess in India!